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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: spring · prune · last · coach · march · wax · branch · lean

  1. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  7. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  8. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  9. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  13. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  14. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  18. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  19. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. Have you met the new head ________________?
  23. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  24. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. lean — to rest against
  2. march — the month
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. spring — a coil
  5. march — music
  6. lean — to bend
  7. coach — pulled by horses
  8. lean — thin
  9. branch — of a bank
  10. spring — the season
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. branch — a division
  13. branch — of a tree
  14. wax — to grow
  15. march — the month
  16. last — finally
  17. wax — in the ear
  18. wax — for sculpting
  19. last — final
  20. last — to go on
  21. spring — of water
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. prune — to trim
  24. prune — to trim

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com